Fifteen doctoral trainees in the PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences program showcased their research during the program’s inaugural Research Presentation Day in 2CW on Tuesday. The program featured podium presentations by first- and second-year students Nadine Aranis, Justin Wong, and Naomi Geberovich, followed by poster presentations from Eileen Gillan, Chelsea Harstad, Hyunji Shin, Jameson Cooper, Marcela Holmes Madruga, Matthew Picard-Fraser, Meaghan Costello, Christie Davis, Morgan Raskin, Rachel Norton, Hengru (Estelle) Liu, and Ziyi Cao. 

The event was part of this semester’s Interdisciplinary Seminar, which focuses on research dissemination. The presentations addressed a broad and diverse range of topics, including, among others, neuroplasticity and rehabilitation after stroke, phantom limb pain, communicative participation in ALS, voice assessment and therapy, language service delivery for adolescents with developmental language disorder, and the development of novel outcome measures for rare pediatric diseases. The event highlighted the interdisciplinary scope of the PhD program and the rigor and innovation that characterize the trainees’ work. 

“Faculty and research mentors engaged presenters in thoughtful discussion and were deeply impressed by the students’ depth of knowledge, clarity of presentation, and scientific rigor, making this an intellectually engaging and energizing event for our community,” said Yael Arbel, director of the PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences Program.

Presentation and posters

Nadine Aranis
Title: Autonomic Regulation in Phantom Limb Pain and Its Correlation with Maladaptive Plasticity: A Cross-Sectional Study
Justin Wong
Title: Current Physical Activity, Not Pre-Pain Activity, Associates with Pain Self-Efficacy and Hip Kinematics in Chronic Hip-Related Groin Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study
Naomi Geberovich
Title: Long-term Distal and Proximal Arm Impairment Changes After Paired Vagus Nerve Stimulation with Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Chronic Stroke
Eileen Gillan
Title: The Infantile‑Onset GM2 Rating Scale (iGM2): A Novel Assessment of Health‑Related Function for Tay‑Sachs and Sandhoff Diseases
Chelsea Harstad
Title: Anticipating Efficacy of Nerve Transfers in Spinal Cord Injury Using Quantitative Neurophysiology 
Hyunji Shin
Title: From Clinician Ratings to Daily Life: Dysarthria and Communicative Participation in ALS
Jameson Cooper
Title: Test‑retest Reliability of the Daily Phonotrauma Index: Implications for Detecting Vocal Hyperfunction in Daily Life
Marcela Holmes Madruga
Title: Dose‑ and Duration‑Dependent Associations of Gabapentinoid Use with Phantom Limb Pain and Psychological Outcomes: A Proposed Observational Study
Matthew Picard‑Fraser
Title: Neurophysiological and Structural Correlates of Post‑Stroke Motor Function
Meaghan Costello
Title: Predicting Imminent Post‑Stroke Fallers After Hospital Discharge: Comparison of 5 Fall‑risk Screening Assessments
Christie Davis
Title: Trends in School‑Based Speech‑Language Service Delivery Models for Adolescents with DLD
Morgan Raskin
Title: Preliminary Analysis of Acoustic Measures for Stimulability Testing in Voice Therapy
Rachel Norton
Title: Socioeconomic Status and Executive Functions as Moderators of Reading Comprehension in Children with Dyslexia
Hengru (Estelle) Liu
Title: Tongue Kinematics Reveal Early Impact of APOE‑ε4 on Swallowing Motor Control in Asymptomatic Adults
Ziyi Cao
Title: Statistical Learning with and without Articulatory Suppression in School‑Age Children